Christmas, Kindles, Citrus Honey Butter and Such!

Very exciting! After I wrote about the possibility of libraries someday lending Kindles, I discovered that one here in Maine - in Camden - already does this! Hopefully, this will be yet another instance of "As Maine goes, so goes the nation!"

I got a MOST unusual book order the other day, a person in Sofia, Bulgaria ordering The Frugal Family's Kitchen Book. I sent him an email asking how on earth he'd become aware of the book, and if I hear back I'll certainly share what he says with you. Speaking of The Frugal Family's Kitchen Book, it's time to order for Christmas gift-gifing. You can use Pay Pal here, order through Amazon.com or send your order to Cranberry Knoll Publishers LLC, P. O. Box 1317, Yarmouth Maine 04096.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! Order now and you can get a free honey cookbook! The honey recipe book I mentioned a few weeks ago is now available HERE - Recipes for Your Honeys, an e-book. There are over two dozen recipes using honey for all kinds of dishes from meats and veggies to desserts. Lots of tidbits and interesting info too.

Cost is $2.99 and of course you can use PayPal to buy just Recipes for Your Honeys.

OR order The Frugal Family's Kitchen Book and you will be able to download Recipes for Your Honeys e-book FREE. Be sure to include your email address with your order. Click on the Buy Now button in the right column.

The Frugal Family Kitchen Book is $14.95 with FREE shipping and handling (in the continental U.S.). Please add 5% ME sales tax for books shipped to addresses in Maine. PayPal adds the $.75 sales tax to all orders.

I may have given you this honey recipe from the new book before but it's especially good on the pumpkin bread you'll be undoubtedly be making after Halloween! Or try it on the fat-free, sugar-free date muffins from an earlier posting.

Citrus Honey Butter

Combine 1/2 c honey, 1/4 c softened butter and any single or combination of 1/2 tsp each grated orange, lemon and lime peel. Use fresh or refrigerate. Flavors blend and intensify as it sets. Wonderful on waffles and pancakes too.

And now I've got to finish planting the garlic for next year as well as putting in the new lavender and catnip plants I was given yesterday. WHEN will this garden work end, I ask you!!

Mary

A Wax Bean Winter

It was 44.2 degrees out when I got up this morning at 5:30. August 28...44.2 degrees! As I took puppy Gracie out for her walkabout, I could see the peppers in the garden shivering, while the summer squash and cucumbers were huddled together under curled leaves. This has not been a kind summer for garden - or gardeners - here on the coast of Maine and in many other parts of the country.

It will be a wax beans winter for us since that's the one thing that has produced bountifully this year. But what does this almost-over growing season mean for most of us for the coming winter? The usual routine... higher prices for foods from fruits and veggies to grain products to meat (because of the high cost of feed). Can you do anything about it? YUP, you can.

While there are still farmer's markets open and even some pick-your-own operations will be open well into the fall, stock up on whatever you can. We'll buy corn to freeze since we lost all three plantings. We'll have some tomatoes to can and there are a couple of dozen quarts left from last year. Potatoes, carrots and beets have done reasonably well, while the onions will be small.

If you don't have a garden or access to fresh produce to preserve, it's discouraging. But if you start thinking about it now, one of the best things you can do - if you have the storage space - is to start buying extra cans/frozen pacgages of those veggies you know you'll need... peas, green beans, corn, beets, etc....to stock the larder. And consider new recipes, reducing portion sizes and eliminating some of those items from your grocery list such as drinks, snacks and pre-packaged lunch products. BUT, start now.

It may be a soup, stew and wax bean winter, but you can still be well-fed AND frugal!

Mary